Teenage girls and their parents need to read the latest government study of sexually transmitted diseases. The infections are so prevalent they are hard to avoid once a girl becomes sexually active. One in four girls [age] 14 to 19 is infected with at least one of four common diseases. Among African-American girls in the study, almost half were infected.Ed and I just annoyed and embarrassed our 13-year-old son by telling him about this scary statistic and saying that
- Lots of boys get STIs too (and give them to others)
- He should wait many years to have sex
- When he does finally have sex, he should wear a condom every single time
Better annoyed than uninformed, I say.
sexually transmitted infections sex teens EditorMom
3 comments:
Thanks for having the talk with your son! Perhaps it was inadvertent, but the snippet you quoted makes it sound like only girls get STDs. I wish the ads for Gardasil would encourage vaccination for boys as well as girls, as they boys can so easily be carriers without suffering ill effects.
Unfortunately, the Times piece focused only on girls.
Good job, mom!
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